Frenzied crowds greet Pope Francis in Brazil

A member of the security detail holds up a baby to Pope Francis as he makes his way in the popemobile into central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, July 22, 2013. The pontiff arrived for a seven-day visit in Brazil, the world's most populous Roman Catholic nation. During his visit, Francis will meet with legions of young Roman Catholics converging on Rio for the church's World Youth Day festival. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
— AP

A member of the security detail holds up a baby to Pope Francis as he makes his way in the popemobile into central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, July 22, 2013. The pontiff arrived for a seven-day visit in Brazil, the world's most populous Roman Catholic nation. During his visit, Francis will meet with legions of young Roman Catholics converging on Rio for the church's World Youth Day festival. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
/ AP

"It was so amazing when he was selected, we just couldn't believe it, we cried and hugged one another," Velazquez said. "I personally want to see if he's still the same man as simple and humble whom we all knew. I have faith that he's remained the same."

It was the first time the Argentine-born Francis returned to his home continent since his selection as pope in March.

During his stay, the 76-year-old pope will meet with legions of young Catholics converging for the church's World Youth Festival in Rio. More than 1 million people are expected to pack the white sands of Copacabana for ceremonies presided over by Francis. He will also visit a tiny chapel in a trash-strewn slum and make a side trip to venerate Brazil's patron saint, Our Lady of Aparecida.

On the flight from Rome, Francis expressed concern for a generation of youth growing up jobless as the world economy sputters. He warned about youth unemployment in some countries in the double digits, telling journalists there is a "risk of having a generation that hasn't worked."

"Young people at this moment are in crisis," he said.

He didn't specify any country or region, but much of Europe is seeing those gloomy youth joblessness numbers, especially in Greece, Spain and Italy. Brazil is in far better shape than European nations, with unemployment at an all-time low after a decade of economic expansion.

"I'm here for faith! I'm here for joy! And I'm here for the first Latino pope!" Ismael Diaz, a 27-year-old pilgrim wrapped in the flag of his native Paraguay, said as he bounded down the stone sidewalks of Copacabana hours ahead of Francis' arrival.

Diaz gave high fives to four fellow pilgrims, then turned toward local beachgoers who looked back at him while calmly sipping green coconut water and staring from behind dark sunglasses.

"I'm here because I have the force of God in me and want to make disciples of all. Arghhhhhhhhhh!" he yelled, lifting his head and howling into Rio's hot, humid air before flexing his arms and striking a bodybuilder's pose.

It would be easy for Francis if all Catholics shared the fervor of some of its younger members. But the pilgrims are the exception in Brazil and much of Latin America, a region with more faithful than any other in the world but where millions have left the church for rival Pentecostal evangelical churches or secularism.

A poll from the respected Datafolha group published Sunday in the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo said 57 percent of Brazilians age 16 and older call themselves Catholic, the lowest ever recorded. Six years ago, when Pope Benedict XVI visited, a poll by the same firm found 64 percent considered themselves among the faithful. In 1980, when Pope John Paul II became the first pontiff to visit Brazil, 89 percent listed themselves as Catholics, according to that year's census.

Pentecostal evangelicals stood at 19 percent of the population in the latest poll, rising from virtually nothing three decades ago by aggressively proselytizing in Brazil's slums.